Every year 90,000 prisoners are released in England and Wales, 60% of whom re-offend within two years. Blue Sky Development and Regeneration is a charity working to reduce this cycle of re-offending.
The largest employer of ex-offenders in the UK, Blue Sky has employed over 350 ex-offenders since its outset in 2005. The charity works in London, Oxford, Slough, Manchester, Wakefield, Bristol and Gloucester providing six months of paid employment in the ground maintenance and recycling sectors. Employees work 37 to 40 hours a week in teams of between four and six. Each team has a supervisor, also an ex-offender who acts as a mentor.
As well as a paid job and mentoring, Blue Sky also offers its employees vocational training and practical help and advice – from how to set up a bank account to how to write a CV. Each member of staff has a tailored learning plan, laying out what they would like to achieve in their time with Blue Sky, and have access to a training budget.
“Giving an ex-offender a job when they leave prison can have a tremendous impact on their life and help them breakaway from crime,” explains Andrea McCubbin, Blue Sky’s Development Director. “Only one in six of our employees go on to re-offend, which is astounding when you compare it to the national average, and 50 per cent have gone on to find permanent work in a range of industries. In fact, one of our former employees is now a licensed mole catcher!”
With such remarkable results the team at Blue Sky were determined to develop their organisation but needed additional funding so they approached the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales. “For us it was important to secure salary funding and we approached the Foundation because we knew it supports core costs,” says Andrea. “We wanted to have the capacity to really drive the organisation forward and not be tied-up hunting around for funding.”
Having successfully passed the Foundation’s eligibility screening one of the Foundation’s Grant Managers visited the team to get a better understanding of their work and its impact. After this visit the charity was advised to apply for funding and in March 2009 it was awarded a three-year grant of £60,000 to help fund the salary of the Chief Executive.
“By securing funding for such a core position we were able to concentrate on expanding geographically and working with more ex-offenders,” continues Andrea. “We have been able to grow as an organisation and are now able to employ over 60 ex-offenders when, prior to this funding, we had 25 on our payroll.”
“We really liked the standardised and straightforward application process,” says Mick May who is the Founder and Chief Executive of Blue Sky. “We felt the Foundation’s approach was more to help us than to catch us out.”
Since 2009, the team has set-up franchises in Manchester and Wakefield and are currently planning a third in the West Midlands. They are also looking at expanding into the catering industry. What’s more, the organisation has received widespread recognition for its work and awards from various bodies, including the Centre for Social Justice, and was one of this year’s winners at the prestigious Charity Awards.
One former employee of Blue Sky, Michael explains what the organisation has meant to him:“If it wasn’t for Blue Sky I’d be back in prison now without a doubt. Blue Sky’s given me confidence and a sense of self-worth.” “We are really grateful for this funding,” continues Mick. “Very few organisations support basic overheads and core costs, but for us this was essential for what we wanted to achieve. Thanks to this funding we have been able to move the organisation forward and we certainly wouldn’t be where we are now.”
